2. Contact Info

3. Dealer Selection

At 9 a.m. it’s a chilly 22 degrees, very cold for this L.A.-based scribe. My nose is
nearly hypothermic and my fingers can barely wrap around the three-spoke steering
wheel. Luckily my toes are still tingling, so I’m not totally incapacitated.

A light snowfall carpeted the area the night before, and a bright white army of
trees surrounds me. I’m at the Team O’Neil Rally School near the quaint town of
Dalton, New Hampshire, a perfect setting to test Mitsubishi‘s latest generation of
AWC (All-Wheel Control) systems. If you don’t already know, rally school proprietor
Tim O’Neil is a five-time North American and U.S. Rally Champion and his instructors
are top-notch.

“Remember: turn, brake, throttle,” says Matt, one of the eager — and highly
experienced — Team O’Neil instructors. What? Brake after turning? Everything I’ve
learned at other driving schools goes immediately out the door. It’s a whole other
ball game when it comes to driving precisely on ice. “Use that left foot, too,” he
directs. The left foot, too?

Hours before one of my feeble attempts at a Tommi Makinen impersonation, I’d visited
a log cabin that Team O’Neil calls “HQ.” There I learned the school’s pertinent
safety rules and the tech behind the AWC setups.

All-Wheel Control, born of the brand’s famous rallying lineage, is one of
Mitsubishi’s prized technologies and now includes a separate, more performance tuned
Super All-Wheel Control system (S-AWC). Extensive testing and re-calibration in
nearly every feasible climate and terrain have lead to the two distinct setups.
Though mechanically unique, the differences between each AWC are actually relatively
small. Collectively, they’re focused on creating better handling, plus safer and
more predictable vehicles for consumers.

In the toasty warm cabin, Mitsubishi first shows us the new 2010 Outlander GT. It
uses S-AWC with an active front differential that controls the speed differences
between the front wheels. It also gets electronic four-wheel drive that distributes
power and torque to the rear wheels. Instead of using the electro-hydraulic
components that the Evo employs, engineers opted for electro-magnetic replacements
in an effort to reduce parasitic drivetrain loss and bump up fuel economy. Tarmac,
Snow, or Lock modes optimize torque distribution depending on terrain.

Next up is the more family oriented but still plenty sporty Sportback Ralliart,
which employs an AWC straight from the previous gen Evolution IX. It incorporates an
electro-hydraulic active center differential (ACD) to direct torque between front
and rear wheels (50:50 depending on situation), as well as mechanical LSDs both
front (helical style) and rear (clutch style). Three modes — Tarmac, Gravel, and
Snow — allow users to change the ACD’s differential limiting force based on the
environment. Basically, the more wheel slippage, the more force applied. Mitsu’s new
TC-SST dual clutch gearbox has undergone a substantial software remap in order to
better mesh with the all-wheel drive system.

Encompassing the full AWC experience is the Lancer Evolution MR. Since its Mitsu’s
top dog performance machine engineers went an extra step in testing and refining Evo
X’s all-wheel drive at places like Germany’s famed Nurburgring and the Willow
Springs circuit in California. The system employs an ACD transfer case, active yaw
control (AYC) differential, and a rewired ASC/ABS unit.

Highly efficient at torque vectoring, the AYC differential administers torque right
to left (rather than solely front to back as in the ACD). Its electro-hydraulically
controlled wet clutch packs generate wheel torque independently of drive torque. The
whole package can allow the Evo to exhibit some rear-wheel drive characteristics,
depending on the situation.

Left foot on the brake, throttle lightly depressing the gas, I send the Outlander
into a long, drawn out slide, careening straight toward the first cone. Each of the
Outlander’s ContiWinterContact tires searches for grip, but their inability to do so
isn’t their fault or that of the S-AWC’s. It’s mine. You see, driving the slalom on
snow covered ice takes more speed than I, a born and raised Southern Californian,
initially thought.

“More throttle! Turn, brake!” yells my passenger through each of the five cones.

With every pass comes more confidence. Now the S-AWC is really shining. As speed
increases, more torque is sent to the outside rear wheel, making the GT stable and
eerily surefooted.

Punch the throttle to the floor, and it transforms into a slide-happy 4000-plus
pound behemoth. While it isn’t the correct way to pass through the slalom, it sure
is the most amusing. Once I learn the preliminary control techniques, I easily
cruise through the course. The Outlander proves to be a nimble sport-ute and a cinch
to handle considering the less than ideal conditions.

Soon after I return to the start, a Lancer Sportback Ralliart rolls up and I hop in.
Seat adjusted, buckle secure, I attack the slalom again. This time around, things
get a little trickier. Throttle response is sharper, so I’ll have to compensate
accordingly. The engine’s turbo spools quickly, meaning power surges at around 3500
rpm. I immediately spin out.

“What happened?” Matt asks quickly.

“Not enough adjustment,” I reply.

Like the Outlander, it takes a few passes to get to know the car’s personality.
Naturally, speed ramps up with practice, as does my prowess. This one’s fun, but now
I’m feeling really bold. I want the Evo.

I head to one of O’Neil’s short courses. The 600-acre compound is comprised of six
miles of rough gravel, skid pad, and slalom pathways that have been traversed by a
pair of famous students named Travis Pastrana and Ken Block.

This particular short course happens to be a tree-lined, multi-elevation masterpiece
encompassing dirt, mud, rocks, and, of course, ice and snow. Mix in the
turbocharged, 291-horsepower Evo X MR Touring and a mildly experienced wannabe rally
racer, and, well, you get the idea. Speed is not the main focus in this exercise.
Control and survival are.

I squeeze back on the right paddle, second gear engages in a flash. Nose lined up, I
sprint to the first corner, a blind, downhill, off-camber, hellish right-hander
leading into a craggy valley. Great.

Rows of gigantic trees stand guard as I break all four wheels loose with a quick
right nudge of the steering wheel followed by some brake. Ease on the throttle, I
trail brake out of the sweeping corner and jump onto an undulating straight that
hastily dumps into another right, then immediately uphill into a rocky mild left.

All the while I’m pinpointing the Evo, Travis, another instructor, directs my every
motion. “Throttle, throttle. Good. Brake! Aim for the apex, easy now. Turn! Off the
gas. Okay, now, go, GO!”

By the second “go,” I’m hitting speeds nearing 45 mph in third gear, dodging
suspension-crushing potholes, tire-popping rocks, and day-ending ditches. Dare I
say, it’s almost effortless at this point.

Atop the hill, I can see the finish dead ahead. More throttle, I think. The finish
line whooshes by. I’ve survived. My relatively fast pace and control are testaments
to Mitsubishi’s thorough AWC development — and to the effectiveness of my Team
O’Neil coaches.

Mitsubishi has created an all-wheel drive system capable of catapulting a newbie
through thick forest at crazy speeds and grip limits usually reserved for WRC junior
squads. All my appendages are still numb with cold, and now a huge grin is frozen on
my face.